Day 220: Pastry Cream

Yield: 2 cups
Time (Start to Finish): 45 min

Ingredients:
1 cup half and half
¼ cup sugar
vanilla
3 egg yolks
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp butter
pinch salt
drizzle honey

Directions:
1. In a saucepan, place the half and half, 1/8 cup sugar and vanilla and heat it up until almost boiling
2. In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the sugar and egg yolks.
3. Add the flour and the salt and mix
4. Add the vanilla to the milk and the pour a little of it into the yolk mixture while whisking it. Then pour all of the yolk mixture into the sauce pan and KEEP WHISKING until it begins to thicken. You don’t want to curdle the egg
5. Mix until it becomes thick, about 2 min, and then remove from the heat, add the butter and a drizzle of honey.
6. When it is stirred, strain through the strainer into a bowl and cover with plastic. It can save a couple of days.

Rating: 4 strawberries
Notes: The honey does the trick, let me tell you. This is a very basic pastry cream recipe, but the honey adds a touch of sweetness that most people notice but cant place. I am going to use this cream tomorrow when I make my éclairs! This is easy to make, and the straining part is really important to get out any pieces of cooked egg or clumps of flour. You can use this cream in tarts, thin it with whipped cream to put in a Boston cream pie, or all sorts of things. Play with it! You will love it.